Would you condemn Andy Dufresne, the hero of Shawshank Redemption, for what he did to Warden Samuel Norton and Captain of the Guards, Byron Hadley, and the rest of the abusive guards? You should. Afterall, Andy caused these gentlemen profound pain and suffering. The captain and the guards are going to suffer long jail sentences among murderers who are going to torture them, rape them and most likely kill them. In the case of the Warden, he met a violent and untimely death. His loving wife is going to miss him and all the gifts he lavished on her from his bribery money. His children have lost a doting father who looked after their best interests.

Let’s be clear here, Andy Dufresne lied, cheated, received contraband, forged documents, dug an illegal tunnel, lulled the warden into a false sense of security before prancing on the whole prison system and stealing the warden’s money.

From the Warden’s perspective, Andy’s actions were, to borrow from a recent statement by a powerful leader, “pure unadulterated evil”! Andy took away the Warden’s and the guards’ “right for self-defense” by his surprise and “unprovoked” attack. Did Andy and the Warden not have an understanding? Did the jail system not provide him three meals a day? Hell, they even let him build a library! They allowed him one hour of sun and exercise each day, (except when he was thrown in the hole of for a month, of course). They even let him hang posters of Rita Hayworth, Marilyn Monroe and Raquel Welch on his cell wall – ok, only one at a time – but what the heck? What a thankless wretch!
From the perspective of the warden, the guards, the system that unjustly jailed him, and then murdered the only witness that could have proven his innocence, Andy was an ingrate son of a bitch.

The system wants to condemn Andy Dufresne.

Do you?

0

0